Buffalo came right back, scoring on their third straight possession to open the game, this time on a 6-yard James Cook touchdown run.
Trailing by 14, Detroit countered back on their next possession, finding the end zone for the second time in the contest — this one on a little razzle-dazzle by offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The Lions had swing tackle Dan Skipper in the game as an eligible receiver and ended up throwing to him in the left flat for what turned into a 9-yard touchdown catch to trim the Bills’ lead to 21-14. Skipper is the third offensive lineman in franchise history to record a receiving touchdown, joining Taylor Decker and Scott Conover.
The first half ended with both place kickers missing field goals in the final two minutes. Buffalo’s Tyler Bass missed from 24 yards and Detroit’s Jake Bates from 52 yards.
Buffalo opened the second half the same way they started the game with a 70-yard scoring drive in just four plays with a Cook 41-yard touchdown being the exclamation point. It was Cook’s second touchdown run of the game.
Buffalo made it 35-14 late in the third quarter, taking advantage of an Amon-Ra St. Brown fumble in Lions’ territory and converting it into a Khalil Shakir 3-yard touchdown pass from Allen.
Detroit trimmed the lead to 35-21 late in the quarter on a 66-yard Goff to St. Brown touchdown strike. It was the second longest reception of St. Brown’s career.
Following a Buffalo field goal that extended their lead to 38-21, Detroit marched down the field and scored on a 12-yard pass from Goff to running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Following that touchdown that trimmed the lead to 38-28, Lions head coach Dan Campbell tried an onside kick that was caught by Buffalo and returned to Detroit’s 5-yard line. Allen threw a 5-yard touchdown pass on the next play to push the lead back to 17.
Detroit trimmed it to a 10-point lead again midway through the fourth on a 1-yard Gibbs touchdown run, but Buffalo extended the lead again to 13 with a 41-yard field goal right before the two-minute warning to make it 48-35.
Detroit got a late 3-yard touchdown catch by wide receiver Jameson Williams to make it 48-42 with 12 seconds remaining but failed to recover the onside kick and the Bills ran the clock out from there.
St. Brown finished with 14 receptions for 193 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Sam LaPorta had 111 yards on seven receptions for Detroit.
